Social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others can be a fun and useful way to keep up with long-lost friends, expand your professional and personal networks, and communicate with friends, family members and colleagues.
These sites are now an integral part of many of our lives, and we recognize that social networking, wikis, blogs and other online sites may be one of the ways companies will continue to grow and develop their brands and images.
A number of employee s have asked about our company’s policy on employees participating in online forums. First and foremost, we respect and don’t want to interfere with employees’ private lives when there’s no connection to their work or COMPANY.
For exa mple, we don’t proactively search for our employees’ involvement on social networking sites.
What our employee s do on their own time that doesn’t involve or affect COMPANY is their own prerogative - we have no interest in being “Big Brother.”
Of course, if an employee does bring COMPANY, its employees or our business associates into their personal time, on social networking sites or otherwise, we may find ourselves pulled into an otherwise personal matter and may have to take steps to protect the company and our employees.
To that end, and to avoid blurring the line between personal and work, here’s some guidance and expectations when using social networking sites, blogs, wikis or otherwise referencing or representing
COMPANY:
 Keep Things In Line When You’re Online.
We continue to ask that employees be professional, honest and respectful in connection with discussing matters involving COMPANY, its employees and business associates. It’s one thing to note that you work at COMPANY or share general information about your job and the company.
It’s another thing to use social networking or any public forum to attack, hurt, or threaten the company, its employees or others. We’re confident that our employees can uphold the highest level of professionalism when representing COMPANY directly or indirectly.
 Stay Within Your Comfort Zone.
For COMPANY sponsored fan sites and blogs, you should stick with things you know. Please do not offer comments or advice on topics that fall outside your area of responsib ility or expertise. If you’re commenting or posting to a non-sponsored or administered site and referring to COMPANY or our products or services, remember to identify yourself as an employee of COMPANY and provide a “disclaimer” at the end of your comments
(“The views expressed in this message are mine and are not authorized by and do not reflect the views or opinions of COMPANY or its management.”) Always respect and comply with the online site’s Terms of Use.
 Be A Good Steward Of Our Brand & Confidential Information.
Note that only certain employees within COMPANY may authorize the use of COMPANY ’s logo and any of its name and trademarks in connection with a website or otherwise. Please do not cut and paste or otherwise upload our logo or any COMPANY material or content to any website. Of course, our confidentiality agreements and policies with our employees prohibit the sharing or using of any of our, our employee s’, or any of our business associates’ confidential information or trade secrets.
 Respect Our Employees.
We value and respect our employees, and COMPANY is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. We absolutely will not tolerate any unlawful
This policy is an overview and guidelines of the company’s policy on social networking and is subject to change from time to time. Nothing in this policy is a contract or promise of employment or continued employment whether express or implied.

discrimination, harassment or retaliation of our employees whether at work or work-related events, online in social networking forums, or otherwise. Don’t reference other employees or applicants, or disclose any personal or employment information. Always ask yourself, would you want to see your online posting or comments on the front pa ge of the “New York Times.”
 At Work Or During Work Hours.
Unlike most other companies, we don’t block or restrict a lot of the common sites out there like Facebook or MySpace. We trust and permit our employees to access appropriate websites for a reasonable amount of time. However, as our Information
System Use Policy notes, we do expect that any such computer use at work or on work time won’t be excessive or interfere with the employee ’s job, any other employee, the company’s operations, or others outside the company.
 Social Media in Your Free Time.
While being part of social media sites can be both fun and valuable, it is not mandatory. Participation in any social media is voluntary unless instructed otherwise by your leader. If you are an hourly or non-exempt employee, time spent viewing or participating in social media (except a reasonable amount during your scheduled work hours) should not be recorded on your time sheet as it is not consider paid time unless, again, required by your leader.
 Bee Shure Two Right Good.
When you’re commenting on one of our sponsored fan pages or otherwise being associated with COMPANY, be sure that your writing is professional. Simple things like spell check and double checking your grammar are easy ways to avoid embarrassing situations. Similarly, any statements you make should be factually accurate. If you’re not sure if it’s true, don’t post it.
 Use Common Sense.
At the end of the day, we all have to use our common sense with these types of things. If you are going to post something online, recognize that you should be honest, factual and smart about it. If you think your leader, your teammates or other employees might be mad if you wrote something online, then that’s probably a good sign not to contribute it. And if you do say or add something you probably shouldn’t have, try to fix it and also let your leader and
Employee Relations know as soon as possible.
Remember, other than official company sponsored websites or postings, any of your personal contributions to the web or a site are your own responsibility and could have consequences, not only at work but also personally. For COMPANY sponsored or administered sites, we reserve the right to monitor and/or pull comments at any time. Any comments or postings you make online related to
COMPANY may be considered as part of our employment process, just like any such comments made in a work or similar setting.
If you do have concerns or things you think need attention here at COMPANY, as always we encourage you to talk to your leader, your leader’s leader, Employee Relations, or a member of Legal
Affairs. Please also remember that our Integrity Helpline is always available should you believe there may be violations of the law or our compliance policies.
This policy is an overview and guidelines of the company’s policy on social networking and is subject to change from time to time. Nothing in this policy is a contract or promise of employment or continued employment whether express or implied.